


Ember Island Players

by LaBelleetlaloup



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Book 3: Fire, Earthbending & Earthbenders, F/M, Firebending & Firebenders, First Kiss, Minor Sokka/Suki, One-sided Aang/Katara - Freeform, POV Katara, Season/Series 03, Waterbending & Waterbenders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 16:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10030844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaBelleetlaloup/pseuds/LaBelleetlaloup
Summary: A redux of that fateful play, with a slightly different end to the night.





	

Ever since they had gotten back from facing down Yon Rha, it had been harder and harder for Katara to ignore Zuko. Before that, she had been able to use her hurt feelings to push nearly all notice of his existence aside. He was training Aang half-naked? Well that was silly. She would avert her eyes and walk away. Zuko was desperately trying to apologize – both with words and by trying to be useful? Well that wasn’t going to help. She would brush off his words and ignore his actions. She didn’t let herself pay any attention to his patient and encouraging teaching style or that he had rescued her father or that he was tall and handsome and kind and yielding. Now that she had gotten closure on her mother’s murder and he had gone to such lengths for her, Katara had been forced to admit that he had more than made amends for turning on her in Ba Sing Se. Her hurt feelings were settling into the relatively painless sting of sad memories. And they were in a house. And Zuko was everywhere she turned.

Katara had given up trying to avoid him for the morning. Sokka and Suki had gone to the market and Katara had let them have the time to themselves. Zuko was giving Aang another lesson in firebending. Katara had settled in to watch and so Toph had settled down in the sun of the courtyard as well. Katara did not ask if she was watching Aang’s forms to judge his technique. Katara was not watching Aang at all. Zuko had stripped off his tunic and was wearing only a pair of breeches, barefoot on the sunwarm cobbles of the courtyard. He was lean but muscled and he moved less fluidly than a tiger shark but he was no easier to look away from. Katara watched sweat bead up at his neck and run down his back as he led Aang through their set. He was mesmerizing.

They finished their training set for the day but Katara had not yet moved. Zuko was wiping down with a cloth and she didn’t have anything particularly urgent to get done. Certainly nothing important enough to induce her to turn away. Toph wasn’t moving either and Sokka and Suki hadn’t returned yet either. 

Of course, invoking names induces apparition and Sokka and Suki suddenly entered the courtyard. Sokka was all excited about something, holding up a poster. Katara pushed herself off the steps she had been sitting on and went to investigate.

“Listen to this. The Boy in the Iceberg is a new production from acclaimed playwright Pu On Tim who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar from the icy South Pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources including singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage." 

"Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players,” Suki explained.

Zuko groaned. “My mother used to take us to see them every year. And every year they butchered Love Amongst the Dragons. They’re terrible.”

“Sokka, you aren’t serious? It can’t be a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves – in the Fire Nation.” Katara had this sinking feeling that nothing good would come out of that play. This wasn’t the Earth Kingdom.

“Come on, what could be so bad about a day at the theater?” Sokka pleaded. “We’ve all been really stressed. We could use a distraction. It’s only a couple of hours…”

“Yeah, this sounds like it’ll be great!” Aang was grinning.

Suki shrugged. She had already conceded to going.

Toph also wanted to go.

Zuko and Katara were outnumbered. They were going to this play. Katara resigned herself to a very awkward night.

Everyone had cleaned up and gotten dressed in their Fire Nation clothing. Zuko had pulled out a hooded cloak to obscure his scar. Katara felt sorry for him. It was too warm out for such a garment. But there was nothing for it. His scar was too well-known. The poster for the play had it on the opposite side, but it was still prominently there.

Aang was bounding ahead exuberantly as they walked into town. Sokka was excitedly babbling to Suki. Toph was hanging on to their conversation, buoyed up on Sokka’s enthusiasm. Katara and Zuko were both dragging their feet.

“So, how bad is this going to be?” she asked quietly.

“Well, it’s not going to paint any of us in a good light. But it will also be hamfisted and overacted, unless this troupe has improved significantly in the past few years. Given that they lost royal patronage after Mom disappeared, I sincerely doubt it.”

“Why did Sokka have to get this idea in his head?” Katara groaned.

Zuko shrugged, “I really don’t know. I’m going to have to buy us a box. We’re going to stand out too much otherwise.”

“We don’t blend well,” Katara agreed. “I don’t think we’ll get away with claiming to be colonials during a play about ourselves.”

“I rather doubt it.”

They both fell quiet again. The market was lively as they passed through. Katara was tempted to accidentally get lost and avoid the play altogether. Zuko caught her arm and shook his head. It was likely for the best. If Sokka got himself into trouble, she would never forgive herself for not being there.

Unfortunately, they did eventually arrive at the theater. Zuko quietly bought a box for them while Katara kept everyone else away from the scrutiny of the ticketseller. Then they herded everyone up to the box. Luckily the play would be starting soon and then hopefully it would not be too long and they would be done with this trial.

The box was on a second floor, overlooking the stage and the majority of the audience. There were two benches for seats. Katara sat herself in the front row. Toph sat down on her one side and Zuko took the other. Aang put up a bit of a protest, but Zuko was ignoring him as much as Katara was pretending not to see what was happening. Aang settled for sitting down beside Zuko on the end. This left Sokka and Suki alone behind them. Katara turned and gave her brother a warning look. He narrowed his eyes in irritation.

“Why are we sitting in the nosebleed section? My feet can’t see a thing from up here,” Toph complained.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell your feet what’s happening,” Katara assured her. 

Luckily the lights were already dimming. The play was starting. They all fell silent. The curtains swept open on a crude depiction of the South Pole. The backdrop was icebergs. The set pieces looked like moving water. The actors were in something approximating Tribe clothing and were rowing a canoe. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad? Katara smiled up at her brother when he tapped on her shoulder and pointed excitedly at his actor onstage. Katara looked back down at the stage. Wait… was that the actress’ leg? Why didn’t she have salwar?

The actress began to speak, gesturing grandly, “Sokka, my only brother. We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas and yet never do we find anything fulfilling.” She seemed almost on the verge of tears. Katara felt her lip curl in distaste. This was not an auspicious beginning.

“All I want is a full feeling in my stomach, I'm starving!” the actor answered. The audience burst into laughter.

Sokka did not seem impressed. As the actors kept speaking, he grumbled, “This is pathetic. My jokes are way funnier than this.” Katara had to agree. She had thought her brother’s jokes were bad but this was an entirely different level.

Toph laughed, “I think he’s got you pegged.” Katara and Sokka both frowned at her. The actress on stage got even weepier and more melodramatic. There was still no action.

“Well, this is just silly,” Katara huffed. “Sokka, I told you this was a bad idea. I don’t sound like that.” Zuko shook his head slowly, staring at the stage in horror.

“Oh man, this writer’s a genius!” Toph was giggling so hard she looked like she might roll off the bench. Katara stared at Toph for a long moment. Was that really what the other girl thought of her? She looked back at the stage. An iceberg prop had been rolled out. It was nothing like Aang’s perfectly round waterbending ice protection, but Katara guessed it must be Aang anyway.

“It appears to be someone frozen in ice!” the actress exclaimed. “Perhaps for a hundred years!” Katara started giggling. Zuko looked over to her in confusion.

“What?” he whispered.

“This is so not what happened,” she managed to whisper back.

“What happened?”

“Sokka ran the boat into a current and smashed it. We were stranded on an ice floe in the middle of nothing. I was screaming at him about it, because he had been steering. It was the full moon. So I sort of rolled the entire ocean. Aang’s little bubble of ice popped up and Sokka freaked out. But I didn’t realize why. So I was still yelling. I didn’t see anything until I’d already cracked the ice and Sokka had spun me around.”

“No hai-ya?” Zuko asked wryly. 

Katara shook her head. “No hai-ya.”

There was an actress portraying Aang. Katara had to stifle another round of giggles. Aang didn’t realize until the woman spoke.

“I’m the Avatar, silly. Here to spread joy and fun!”

“Wait, is that a woman playing me?” Aang was shocked and horrified by the prospect.

Zuko leaned over towards him, “It’s pretty common for women to play young boys. They can’t make grown men look or sound young enough and kids aren’t allowed to act.”

“I’m not that young,” Aang grumbled back. He was slumped against the railing. The actors portraying Katara and Sokka were both sobbing. Had she missed something? Probably not, honestly. The actress playing Aang pointed out into the audience and said something about dumplings. Ah. It was supposed to be a joke. “I don’t do that! That’s not what I’m like!”

Toph was cackling. “Oh, they nailed you, Twinkle Toes.” Well… maybe Toph was just a little confused about everyone.

Zuko’s actor was at least a grown man in proper Fire Nation armor. The man was not the same sort of build and the scar was on the opposite side, but it could have been worse. “I must capture the Avatar to regain my honor!” That sounded familiar. Zuko winced as the actor told the actor portraying Iroh that he sickened him.

“I wasn’t mean to Uncle,” he mumbled. Katara laid a hand on his knee.

“No one thought you were. We knew this was going to make us look bad.”

“I don’t think I was prepared,” he muttered. Katara squeezed his knee comfortingly before withdrawing her hand. It would perhaps not be appropriate to leave her hand in his lap.

The scene of them at the Southern Air Temple only had them getting Momo. Of course, no one else had been there to know that Aang had tried to teach them how to play his games. And the Fire Nation wouldn’t dare mention the unburied skeletons of monks killed in an ambush in a play.

The scene following that was Kyoshi Island. The potentially embarrassing incident of Aang having dragged them there to swim with the fish was nowhere to be found. There was only a single exaggeratedly dressed Kyoshi Warrior, and the actor portraying Sokka was also in Kyoshi armor, asking if his butt looked fat. Oddly enough, there was also no mention of Zuko’s attack. Katara would have thought that they would have at least given that to him – he had won the fight and destroyed a village of rebels. She looked over at Zuko. He didn’t seem to have noticed.

Then they were in Omashu. Although hamfisted and poorly acted, it was an impressively accurate account of their time with King Bumi. She wondered who they had gotten the information from.

There was no mention of their time in Haru’s village, or with Hei Bei, or even the incident at Roku’s temple. This time Zuko was also frowning as the scene switched immediately from Omashu to the pirates. They exchanged a look of confusion. The actor portraying Zuko was also conspicuously missing from that scene as well. Katara was rather grateful not to see how that actress would portray her getting tied to a tree, but it surely was odd that according to this play Zuko had not caught up to them once yet.

Katara did not recognize the next scene at all. There was a fake storm rolling across the stage. The actor Zuko had somehow captured the actress Aang – although no explanation had been given – and then there was an actor in a blue mask. It looked vaguely familiar. Had she seen that mask on wanted posters? She looked over at Zuko. He had covered his face with both hands and on his other side Aang was blushing furiously. Katara glanced back at the stage. The actress portraying Aang was being held in a bridal carry by the actor in the blue mask.

“What’s this?” she whispered to them.

“Did Aang not tell you I rescued him from Zhao?” Zuko muttered against her ear. “I just put on that stupid mask to cover my scar.”

“Aang didn’t tell us he was captured at all. That must have been right after that horrible storm came through. Sokka had a pretty bad fever. I wasn’t nearly as bad, but I didn’t feel well either. Aang said he was going to get medicine. He didn’t return for two days.”

“He didn’t say anything?” Zuko looked over at Aang. Katara turned back to the stage. Jet and the Freedom Fighters were onstage.

“But that’s out of order,” Katara muttered in confusion. There was a bit of nonsense. Then the actor portraying Jet pulled her actress into a close embrace. Katara’s mouth fell open. Definitely a conscious choice to show her legs all the way up, then.

“Don't cry, baby. Jet will wipe out that nasty town for you,” the actor declaimed.

“Oh, Jet, you’re so bad,” the actress replied. Katara gasped. A hand was suddenly covering her mouth.

“Don’t scream,” Suki whispered in her ear. “Fire Nation, remember?” Katara nodded. Suki moved her hand.

“That is not what happened,” Katara whispered emphatically.

“I know,” Suki assured her. Toph was giggling hysterically. Katara was less than amused.

There was a very brief scene of flying over the Great Divide and suddenly the scene was the North Pole. Katara almost felt whiplash. There had been ages between that horrid incident with Jet tricking them and them arriving at the North Pole. Well, it would probably be too much to expect them to include them saving that town from the volcano or Aang’s first brief attempt at fire-bending training or the military defeat the Fire Nation had suffered at the Northern Air Temple. It also might be best that there was no commentary on their reunion with Uncle Bato. Katara shuddered to think how much sobbing would have gone into that scene.

There were no scenes of waterbending, which was unsurprising. For some reason, there was still a brief romance between Yue and Sokka. There was no reference to Zhao murdering the moon spirit. Instead, it was implied that Yue was Tui herself in disguise. Again, Zuko was excluded from the fight entirely along with his uncle. The only reference to Zhao was a small doll held by the Avatar actress in a weird water costume who was simply called “Commander”. The siege was reduced to the actress stomping about the stage on toy ships, laughing and jumping like a small child.

The curtain swung closed. The lights came up. They all stared at the stage for a long moment while the rest of the audience started moving. Then Zuko suddenly stood. They all followed suit and made their way out of the box into the hallway. Rather than even attempting to search out the food vendor, they all collapsed on the stairs up to their box.

“So far, I think the intermission might be the best part of the play,” Zuko grumbled. Katara giggled. He had a point.

Sokka sighed heavily. “Apparently the playwright thinks I’m an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time.”

“And they didn’t even have the decency to make them inappropriate jokes,” Katara murmured sympathetically. Sokka gave her a chiding look, but a smile was pulling at his lips.

“You tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics,” Suki assured him with a giggle.

“I know!”

“At least this Sokka actor kinda looks like you. That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all.”

“I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys,” Toph replied.

“Like I said earlier, it’s a making do issue. He’s too young to be played by a grown man and children aren’t allowed to be in acting troupes,” Zuko snapped.

“Besides, Aang, it’s not supposed to be an accurate portrayal. They made me out to be a preachy crybaby who only ever talks about hope.”

“Yeah, that’s not you at all,” Aang replied. It did not sound sincere.

“Well, you were the biggest threat at that point,” Zuko shrugged. “They had to make you harmless. Some idiot who cries all the time and preaches about hope and throws herself at every guy isn’t a threat.”

“I was really hoping that it was a wardrobe malfunction,” Katara grumbled.

“What was?” Toph asked innocently.

“The way that actress is dressed. You can see her undergarments because she isn’t wearing anything under her kameez, and it’s cut at the top so her breasts are coming out.” Katara curled her lip in disgust.

“What?” Toph sounded honestly shocked.

“Yeah, it is pretty bad,” Sokka agreed. “Sorry, sis.”

“Is that what it’s called?” Zuko asked.

“Salwar is the pants and kameez is the shirt,” Katara confirmed.

“But why would they do that?” Toph was still confused.

“To make her look harmless,” Zuko repeated himself.

“Make me look easy to tame,” Katara agreed. “A pretty exotic bird to put in a cage and stare at.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Sokka and Suki insisted.

“I know that,” Katara smirked at them. Sokka grinned back at her.

“They’d be in for a big surprise,” Zuko mumbled, staring off into the middle distance. Katara jostled his shoulder.

There was suddenly a clear line of motion back into the theater. So they all followed suit. The play was unfortunately not yet over. They all filed back into their box. Toph, Katara, Zuko, and Aang were on the front bench with Suki and Sokka behind them. They had barely had a chance to get settled before the lights were dimming.

The curtains swung open. The stage was set with greenery and rolling hills. So not admitting that the Northern Tribe had gotten them all the way to an Earth Army base south of Omashu? That was not surprising. The three actors for Aang, Sokka, and Katara walked onstage.

“Well, here we are in the Earth Kingdom,” the actress announced, as though it was not obvious enough. Katara was just grateful that her actress wasn’t already weeping.

“I better have a look around to see if I can find an earthbending teacher,” the Aang actress said, and was pulled into the air on a rope. Huh? Was this not Omashu?

“This is it! This must be where I come in!” Toph whispered excitedly. She was leaning forward towards the stage. No. It shouldn’t be. First they had been at the Earth Army base, with that insane captain who had tried to force Aang into the Avatar state. Then they had traveled to Omashu on their own. Katara would be eternally appreciative if there was no mention of that ridiculous badger mole cave. But it was odd that there was no mention of the Fire Nation having taken Omashu. Surely they were proud of that? It would be surprising if their accidental journey into the banyan swamp had been included, but they had been chased by the Fire Nation army on war rhinos when they had ended up just inland from Kyoshi Island in time for Avatar Day and Kyoshi had admitted to killing some warlord named Chin. How had that been overlooked? “Here it comes!” Toph was murmuring.

The actor who popped out from under a prop rock was extremely muscular. “You can't find an earthbending master in the sky, you have to look underground,” he boomed. Katara stared at the stage in bewilderment. Was that Bumi? It wasn’t the same actor as before. But no. He claimed to be Toph.

“Wait a minute…” Toph looked confused. “That sounds like a guy… a really buff guy.”

“He sort of looks like the Boulder,” Katara agreed.

“Are you kidding me? That’s perfect!” Toph looked ecstatic. “So much better than a flying bald lady.” Katara pointedly did not look in Aang’s direction. She did not want to be in the middle of that conversation. She had tried to tell everyone that this would be a bad idea before they even came.

Instead of using bending the way it worked, the play claimed that Toph “saw” by releasing “a sonic wave” from her mouth. This essentially meant that the actor screamed at the top of his lungs at the actress portraying Aang. Katara felt a flash of sympathy for the actors. This play was not only insulting, it was just bad. Toph, at least, seemed perfectly content with her onstage portrayal.

The next scene was of all of them and Zuko and Iroh facing off against Azula dressed in pink. There was no explanation given for Zuko suddenly not being a prince. Was that considered common knowledge? Katara glanced over at Zuko. He was stone-faced. Perhaps it would be better not to ask. The pink actress pointed offstage, over the audience, saying something about honor. All the other actors turned and she slid through a door in the prop – “escaping”.

“What was that?” Katara demanded. “Why did they not include her lightning bending at Iroh?”

“Probably because he survived,” Zuko replied tonelessly. Katara flinched.

The next scene was of the drill outside of Ba Sing Se. Well… there was perhaps not much that could be included between the two instances although it had to have been at least two moons between them. They did not include any bending training in the play. And the adventure into the library in the desert was not one that had been seen – nor was the long trek back out of the desert. From there, there was only them making their way to Ba Sing Se.

Suddenly the actor portraying Jet lumbered out onto the stage, waving his hooks around strangely in the direction of the other actors.

“What’s all this?” Katara asked.

“When the Dai Li hypnotized Jet?” Aang suggested.

“I guess,” Katara murmured. This was not what had happened at all. He had been sent to them to keep them from finding Appa under Lake Laogai. On stage, the actor was covered by a prop rock dropped from above the curtain.

“Did Jet just die?” Zuko asked.

“You know, it was really unclear,” Sokka agreed.

“He’s dead,” Katara replied.

“What?” Aang demanded.

“He is. I tried to heal him. He couldn’t have survived much longer.”

“You would know,” Zuko agreed. Aang frowned but he did not say anything else, turning back to the stage instead.

On stage, the scene had changed to the green rock crystal prison under the palace. Katara winced. The Katara actress was already sidling up to the Zuko actor.

“I have to admit, Prince Zuko. I really find you attractive,” the actress cooed. Katara buried her face in her hands, groaning softly.

“That definitely didn’t happen,” Zuko said insistently, turning in Sokka’s direction.

“I know it’s a play,” Sokka assured him.

“I had eyes for you from the day you first captured me!” the actress exclaimed. Katara whimpered. This was humiliating. Had she not said that this was a bad idea?

“Wait,” the actor replied. “I thought you were the Avatar’s girl?”

What.

Katara looked up at the stage as though something visible would explain that line. She looked to Zuko. He seemed equally bewildered. Aang however had leaned forward and was nodding. The actress was denying the charge. The pair of actors made a production of grasped hands. Zuko and Katara both covered their faces. They had been in prison! This was ridiculous. Aang suddenly got up and left. Katara did not want to guess why.

The actors continued to act out a very strange approximation of the fall of Ba Sing Se. The Zuko actor insulted his uncle before going with Azula. Two actresses representing Mai and Ty Lee appeared out of nowhere and formed the attack against the Earth King. The Dai Li were represented by two incompetent guards in green robes. The Aang actress actually said “Avatar State Yip Yip” before Azula bent lightning at her, which was actually only a blue ribbon.

Katara wondered if the play was going to claim that it killed Aang. If it meant the play was over, that would be perfectly acceptable. Well, the Azula actress declared him dead and the curtains closed. Katara was tentatively hopeful.

The Aang actress peeked out from the curtains, “We do have one more act for you. Enjoy a brief intermission but it isn’t over yet!”

Katara groaned.

“Did you want them to kill Aang?” Sokka demanded.

“If it mean this torture was over and I could go home.”

“It’s not that bad,” Toph insisted.

“You aren’t being represented by an actress shoving their exposed chest at every actor onstage,” Katara hissed back. Toph flinched.

“That was weird… when she was telling Zuko that he was attractive.”

“It was very weird,” Katara agreed. “Nothing of the sort happened and no one who was there talked to this playwright so I don’t understand why he decided to put that in.”

“Honestly, he could have avoided that entirely and just made it all one big fight,” Suki agreed. “There was no explanation of them sneaking into Ba Sing Se in our uniforms. I can’t even imagine how he found out that you and Zuko were thrown in prison together.”

“I’m not feeling good about this third act,” Katara said.

“It has to be the invasion,” Zuko said glumly. Katara patted his knee sympathetically. Aang was still nowhere to be seen.

“Does anyone know where Aang went?” she asked.

“He was going to get me fire gummies, but that was before the last scene ended,” Sokka said.

“He didn’t even have any money!” Katara chided. “I told you this play was a bad idea. I’ll go find him.”

“Here,” Zuko pressed a few coins into her hand. “In case he is at the food vendors.”

“Thanks,” Katara smiled weakly at him.

She did go down to the main hall. Aang was nowhere to be found. Katara bought Sokka his candy anyway and tucked it into a pocket. She then started looking behind doors.

Eventually she found Aang on an outside balcony on the upper floor. He was leaning on the rail and staring out to sea.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“No, I’m not,” Aang threw his hat to the ground. “I hate this play.”

“Aang, I know it’s upsetting. The play is supposed to make us look bad. I did suggest that it might not be a good idea.”

“I don’t remember,” he grumbled.

“Aang, it is just a play. I think you’re overreacting.”

Aang scoffed and his words came out in a loud burst, “Overreacting? If I hadn't blocked my chakra, I'd probably be in the Avatar State right now.”

“Aang,” Katara chided. “That’s not something to joke about.”

He ignored her. “Katara, did you really mean what you said in there?”

“What do you mean?” she couldn’t recall having said much to Aang during the play. Certainly nothing to warrant this piteous expression on his face.

“On stage!” he exclaimed irritably. “When you said I was like a brother to you and you didn’t have feelings for me.” Katara had known that she did not want to know why Aang had stormed out.

“Aang, do you know what a play is?” she asked slowly.

He glared at her, “Well, did you?”

“Aang, since an actress was reciting lines written by someone neither of us have ever met, no obviously I didn’t say a damn thing,” Katara snapped back. This was the most ridiculous thing that had happened all evening.

“But it’s still true,” Aang said glumly. “We kissed at the invasion and I thought we were going to be together, but we aren’t.”

“What?”

“What do you mean what? I kissed you. You aren’t my girlfriend. I agree it doesn’t follow.”

“Do you really think that’s how a relationship works? You just kiss a girl once and she magically changes into your girlfriend?”

“Isn’t it?”

“No, Aang, no it’s not.”

“Then, it’s not that you don’t love me?” Aang looked hopeful. Katara fought not to wince. He was still so young…

“Aang… we’re in the middle of a war. This isn’t the right time to be worrying about these sorts of things.”

“What do you mean, it’s not the right time?” Aang demanded petulantly.

“I’m sorry, Aang, but right now, I don’t have an answer for you.” Katara started to turn to go back inside. Aang grabbed her by the sleeve and pressed his mouth to hers. She jerked back. “Aang! I’m going back inside.” This whole night was a bad idea.

Her brother and Suki were returning as she was. Katara handed him the candy. It seemed like it had been hours before she had purchased it.

“Thanks! Did you find Aang?”

“He’s having a breakdown,” Katara explained simply.

Zuko winced, “This play isn’t going to get better. Did you convince him to go back to the house?”

“No. He was in no mood to listen to anything I said.”

“Don’t be silly, Sweetness, he always listens to you.”

“No, he doesn’t.” The lights went back down. Katara leaned into Zuko.

“Was it about his crush on you?” he whispered. Katara nodded. Zuko squeezed her hand for a moment.

The lights dimmed and the curtain opened before Aang came back. There was a scene of Katara healing Aang, although the play explained their escape by including a small remnant of the Earth Army getting them out of Ba Sing Se down to the Eastern Air Temple. It was unsurprising they were wrong, but Katara was impressed by the plausibility given the poor explanations for most of the play.

“That’s all wrong but I’m impressed. Would not having an explanation be an insult to Azula?”

“It would definitely be an insult to Azula,” Zuko confirmed.

From there, the play continued on into a first training scene, and several scenes of everyone gathering for an invasion push.

There was a brief scene of them traveling on Appa over the Fire Nation and then the incidents around Toph tricking the betting con artists out of their money and Combustion Man.

During the brief scene where everyone was reuniting before the invasion, Aang walked back in. Katara pretended not to hear. He sat down beside Sokka instead of Zuko.

The actresses portraying Aang and Katara were standing on top of one of the prop submarines on stage as the next scene opened. Katara stiffened. Zuko reached out and laced his fingers with hers. Luckily or unfortunately, there was not a melodramatic tearful parting. Instead, the Katara actress said she loved Aang as a brother and the two actresses shook hands and nodded with broad smiles. Katara was not certain to be relieved on her own behalf or concerned about how Aang was going to handle that.

Sokka’s actor made an actual joke. Katara blinked.

“I told him to say that!” Sokka announced proudly. Oh. That’s where he and Suki had gone. Better than her first assumption.

“That was reckless,” Katara chided over her shoulder. Sokka stuck his tongue out at her.

“But isn’t this much better?” he asked.

“The jokes are better,” she conceded.

There were no scenes of the attack on the Fire Nation defenses. Katara was sort of surprised that there wasn’t at least a brief scene of them being defeated and rounded up. Surely that made the Fire Nation look good? The next scene was of the empty palace and Zuko joining them.

“I wish it had been that easy,” Zuko murmured. Katara stifled a giggle. She certainly hadn’t been silent when he had tried to join them.

“What kind of woman do they think I am?” she wondered. Zuko chuckled softly. “First they turn a prison scene into me throwing myself at you and now I have no opinion on you joining us. It’s just not realistic.”

“Oh, I know,” Zuko agreed. He shuddered dramatically. Katara gently shoved into his shoulder.

As the scene ended, Sokka stood up and stretched. “Well, I guess that’s it. That’s the present.”

“Wait,” Suki pulled him back down, “It’s obvious the play isn’t over.”

“No, I’m sure it is,” Katara agreed. There was nowhere good that this play could go.

“No, it isn’t. The curtain’s rising,” Suki pointed out.

The set was still the palace. There was an orange lantern floating above the stage. Katara slumped down in her seat. Actors portraying Azula and Ozai came out onto the stage, confirming the lantern was Sozin’s Comet. Zuko’s grip on her hand tightened.

“Oh no,” he breathed.

“Kyoshi…” Suki murmured.

The actor Zuko and the actress Aang came onstage from the other side. 

Katara started praying.

There were two fights: Ozai and Aang and Azula and Zuko.

Zuko was burned alive.

So was Aang.

Ozai had a moment of soliloquy and the play closed.

“It’s supposed to make the Fire Nation look good,” Katara reminded Zuko. He nodded absently.

“What happened?” Toph asked.

“Azula killed Zuko and Ozai killed Aang,” Suki whispered. It wasn’t quiet enough. Zuko flinched and Aang whimpered. Katara stood up and gave her brother a look.

“Come on, it’s time to go now,” she ordered, pulling Zuko to his feet. Toph hopped up. Sokka and Suki roused Aang, who looked piteous and shocked.

They all filed quietly down to the ground floor and out into the night air with the rest of the audience. There was little to say on the matter. Katara had been very correct that seeing a play about themselves in the Fire Nation was a bad idea. But she would get no pleasure out of pointing it out now.

It was already fairly late, but the market was still bustling. Katara was a trifle confused by the crowds. She had thought it was a Fire Nation thing, not a personal thing, that Zuko woke with the sun every morning. Surely they would still need sleep.

Suddenly there was a hand brushing against her left wrist. Katara flinched away, turning towards the offending appendage and swatting it away. It belonged to a tall man about her brother’s age with his hair done up in a top knot.

“I’m Chan,” he announced.

“Good night,” Katara replied, sidling away from him. A warm hand wrapped around her shoulders.

“Is he bothering you?” Zuko growled. Katara glanced up at him. Surely that was redundant? His hood had fallen back enough to expose his face and she went to pull it forward when she heard the other boy whimper. He was pale and clearly shaken.

“You?” he mumbled.

“I think this conversation is over, don’t you?” Zuko smirked. Chan nodded and hastily retreated. Katara shivered and Zuko’s grip on her shoulders tightened.

“Thank you.”

Zuko nodded. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.” Katara smiled awkwardly and ducked out from under his arm. Zuko seemed to realize himself and also put some distance between them.

“Did he say something to you?” Sokka gestured towards where the other boy had disappeared.

“He didn’t get a chance to say anything untoward,” she assured him. Sokka sighed in relief.

“Good. I left all my weapons back at the house.” Katara giggled. Sokka grinned at her.

They fell back into step with the crowd and got safely through the rest of the market without any further incidents. Of course, Katara now had Sokka and Suki on one side and Zuko on the other, Suki was tucked under Sokka’s arm, and Toph just quietly earthbended so the drunken idiot tipped over in the other direction when he seemed liable to fall on her. Luckily, no one noticed the earthbending.

Once they were out of the market crowd, the path back to the house was empty. Sokka and Suki fell out of step with Katara and she sped up a little to give them privacy. Zuko also noticed and sped up a lot, overtaking Toph and Aang.

“That was a really bad play,” he commented as he passed Aang.

“No kidding,” Aang agreed.

“I’ll say,” Toph added.

“The worst,” Katara said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be over that ridiculous costume.” Zuko had ducked his head and was shaking it. Was he laughing?

“Me either,” Toph teased.

“Toph!” Katara protested.

“Katara!” Toph mimicked.

Between the two of them, they managed to get back to the beach house without any awkward discussion of the play.

As they reached the house, everyone started to drift away from one another.

“I’m going to bed,” Toph announced.

“I’ll be in my room,” Aang also said.

“It is late,” Suki agreed, “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight!” Sokka was at least pretending not to follow Suki. Zuko looked lost as they all hurried to their rooms. Katara looked out at the moon over the ocean. It was past halfway to full.

“I think I’m going to bend for a while. If you’re going to bed, leave me a light, would you, Zuko?”

“No… No, I don’t think I’d be able to sleep either. Do you mind if I join you?” Zuko asked, “I mean, going down to the beach.”

“That’s fine,” Katara agreed. How could she refuse? It might be a trifle awkward – the two of them alone on the beach at night – but there was nothing unusual in the request. Of course he wouldn’t be able to sleep after that horrible final scene. Zuko dropped his cloak on a chair and then led the way outside and down to the water. 

They ended up on the beach rather than at the dock. Katara kicked off her shoes and waded out into the shallows, letting the tide flow past her. Zuko had dropped into the sand behind her. She let the tide pull her arms back and forth for a long moment before she started pushing back in tandem. It was simple, mindless repetition that let her clear her mind of that horrid play. Her body ebbed and flowed with the tides and the tides ebbed and flowed with her body and they were one and the same. Everything was the harmony of push and pull.

“Did you really not know?” Zuko suddenly asked. Katara startled, nearly losing her rhythm.

“Know what?”

“That I had rescued Aang?”

“No, I really didn’t know.” 

“Then why did you trust me in Ba Sing Se?”

“I remembered that your sister had attacked you and Iroh months beforehand. And I could tell you did understand when you told me you’d lost your mother too.”

“That’s all?” she could hear him shuffling around behind her. “After everything I’d done to you, trying to get to Aang? You offered to heal my scar because you realized it probably wasn’t a trap that I was in on?” Katara shrugged. Zuko’s hand covered her shoulder and he turned her around. She lost all grip on the tides. “Why?”

“Why what? I already told you why I trusted you.”

“Katara…” Zuko trailed off. “That explanation doesn’t make any sense.”

“You don’t think I would offer someone a second chance out of the goodness of my heart?” she tried to tease. Zuko frowned and shook his head.

“I don’t understand why you didn’t hate me.”

“Did I not hate you long enough for your tastes?”

“Katara, be serious,” he said softly. She stared up at him for a moment before looking back out to the obscured horizon.

“Zuko, I don’t know what you want me to say…”

He gently turned her face back to his. “I hope I’m not overstepping,” he murmured.

Zuko’s eyes dropped down to her mouth as he leaned in. With only a few inches left between them, he paused, looking back up to her eyes. Katara tipped her chin up a fraction, an invitation. Then her eyes fell closed as Zuko crossed that last distance and kissed her. One hand curved around her waist. The other cupped her jaw, fingers threading into her hair. Katara’s hands came up to frame his face, arms trapped between their bodies. It was a soft, sweet kiss, Zuko taking no liberties, but she still felt a spark between them. Their lips slid against each other’s and didn’t catch, naturally ending the kiss.

“Zuko?” Katara murmured in confusion. Her eyes slowly blinked open. Zuko was staring at her with his mouth hanging slack. Then he flinched as they made eye contact.

“Did I overstep?” he asked anxiously, stepping back and jerking his hands away.

Katara shook her head and reached out to catch his hands. “No. I liked it. Just, what brought this on?”

“Do you not know what a kiss is?” Zuko teased. Katara frowned at him. Zuko pulled her in closer again, whispering, “I can refresh your memory.”

“So that’s all it was?” Katara asked, pulling back. “Zuko, I don’t want that.”

“I…” Zuko looked crestfallen. “I can’t make you any promises right now. We don’t know how the comet will end. I might be dead. We might all be dead. Or worse, we lose the fight and they lock us up instead of killing us…”

“Zuko, that’s not a reason. That’s an excuse. If you don’t want a relationship with me, that’s fine. We can leave it at that kiss. But I’m not going to string myself along and I thought you wouldn’t either."

“No. No, I didn’t mean…” Zuko dropped her hands and pulled at his hair.

“Okay… okay… what were you trying to say?” Katara gently guided his hands away from his head. Zuko stared pleadingly at her for a moment, willing her to understand. Then he looked out to the moon. Katara let him gather his thoughts. She would at least hear him out. They stood there in silence under the moon for a long moment.

Finally, Zuko spoke, “I don’t think it would be right to tie you to me with so little time left before the comet. I couldn’t ask that of you. There’s lots of ways it could all go horribly wrong. I don’t want you to mourn me as a lover.”

“Okay…” Katara nodded slowly. “So if there wasn’t a comet? If we weren’t going into a battle next week? What then?” Zuko moved his hand to cup her face.

“Oh, Katara,” he murmured. “I would promise you anything and everything. I would bring you stars from the sky for your hair combs if you asked me to.”

Unfortunately, they were going into a battle the next week. So rather than throwing her arms around him at that declaration, Katara just blushed and let her head turn into his touch. After a long moment they made themselves separate. They went back inside and each into their own bedroom. There was no point in making it any harder than it had to be to wait until the comet had played out. If they won, if they both lived, they would have all the time in the world for kisses and promises. But Zuko was right. Having that now would only make it all the harder for the other if one of them died.


End file.
